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Shooting The Past (BBC) [1999]
![Shooting The Past (BBC) [1999]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/511XAP12J9L._SL160_.jpg)
As the representative of a US corporation, Christopher Anderson is developing a country house on the outskirts of London into a business school for the 21st century, which would be fine … if it were not the home of a unique photographic collection, cared for by a small but determined staff. DVD Technical Information:
RRP: £15.99
Our Price: £20.79 (subject to change)
Editorial
DVD Description
Winner of the Prix Italia. Written and directed by Stephen Poliakoff. Starring Lindsay Duncan, Timothy Spall, Liam Cunningham, Billie Whitelaw, Emilia Fox, Arj Baker and Blake Ritson.
Editorial
Special Features
Editorial
Synopsis
American property developer Christopher Anderson (Liam Cunningham) has plans to renovate an English country house in order to open a business school. However the staff of the vast photo library already housed there are determined to stop him. It soon transpires that there is a picture of Anderson's mother in the library and perhaps an unusual way of saving the library.
Editorial
Sunday Times
"A mediatation on the nature of photographic images, a celebration of old-world English eccentricity at threat in a world of high-tech glossiness and a reminder that nothing in our heritage is sacred"
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The Independent
"… his TV masterpiece"
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The Guardian
"… mesmerizing …"
shooting the past
Review date: 2007-12-19 Rating: 2 out of 10
Be Carefull i ordered this dvd from amazon co.uk with much enthusiasm but find that it will not play in an uk dvd player it seems it is only made usa players and i can find nothing on the package or on the screen to tell me it is a region 1? only disc. amazon tell me the returns policy is for unopened disc only ! i will have the discussion when i return from france aaagh the hassle and i have several other films i dare not open now praps u r more computer literate than me but check v carefully good luck
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Reviews
fascinating
Review date: 2007-12-05 Rating: 8 out of 10
gorgeously photographed and intricately plotted. stephen poliakoff at his best.
you will be mesmerised by the story of a photograph deposit library that faces imminent closure and the attempts of the staff to prevent this happening. half the work is done by the lushly scored soundtrack, which is simple yet effective and unobstrusive. full marks to the composer.
having said that, once you know the ending, i doubt you'll want to return to this again and again.
still, i enjoyed this immensely.
A thing of beauty
Review date: 2007-11-04 Rating: 10 out of 10
As television dramas go, this is the pinnacle. There are only two genii of television writing who have been active in the UK in the last twenty years. They are Alan Bennet and Stephen Poliakoff.
Shooting the past is mesmerising for every second of its production. If you have seen Timothy Spall in Secrets and Lies, prepare yourself to see his best performance in any medium at any time.
I could watch this over and over again for its acting, cinematography, music or just the sheer beauty of the black and white photographs that are used to bracket the steady pace of the drama.
This is a gorgeous piece of television - and it is exactly that, television. This would not work in the same way in the cinema or on stage.
Proof that great drama needs no violence, just brilliant and engrossing storyline
Review date: 2007-09-01 Rating: 10 out of 10
"Shooting the Past" is for you if you, like me, are sickened by the violence and blood-lust so many movies find not only indispensible but also central to the plot nowadays when "the gorier, the better". "Shooting the Past" is a diamond, providing proof that violence(it has none), sex and nudity (infrequent, mild here) and foul language (infrequent) are most definitely not necessary in a movie for it to be great.
"Shooting the Past" is a quiet story of the triumph of sentiment and heredity over the interests of big business, and it is utterly enthralling, beautifully told, brilliantly acted, wonderfully scored. Don't miss it.
stills and stillness
Review date: 2007-07-03 Rating: 8 out of 10
The synopsis given by other reviewers is accurate and it is indeed a first-rate piece of TV. In spite of some clunky accents and slightly cliched (minor) characters, this tackles some interesting concerns around modern attitudes to the past... Not only does such a photographic library constitute our 19th-20th memory; it also does so in a way which slips through the idea of 'masterpiece', 'archive' or 'usefulness'. Like time itself. It is interesting that only by involving someone personally however is this fact made clear (I'm avoiding a spoiler here); this is the sad truth - only few people are enamoured of the past of others for its own sake. That's the lesson of history. Though Poliakoff as usual occasionally lays it on with a trowel (I think the Lost Prince superior), it is far far better than 99% of drama in broadcasting. Not quite Brideshead, but it's worth it just for the documents shown on screen which make the point almost without the need for commentary. Spall and Duncan are excellent.
Product Details/Specifications
Actor(s):
Emilia Fox
Timothy Spall
Billie Whitelaw
Lindsay Duncan
Liam Cunningham
Creators:
Lindsay Duncan (Primary Contributor)
Timothy Spall (Primary Contributor)
Director(s):
Recording label: 2 Entertain Video
Manufacturer: 2 Entertain Video
EAN: 5014503132729
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 2
Format: Anamorphic, Box set, PAL, Widescreen,
Release date: 2004-02-09
Number of discs: 2
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Audience rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 183 minutes
Theatrical release date: 1999-11-21
Language: English (Original Language)